The Little Witch of Diamond City - Ashley - The Witch retreats. For now.

[Noipoi]

So uh...
What happens in a support thread once your character gets in?

 

[Jazzy Jinx]

So uh...
What happens in a support thread once your character gets in?

It's most likely closed and archived.

General discussion about Ashley would then roll over into her new Social thread.

 

[Demonfunds]

So uh...
What happens in a support thread once your character gets in?

We have a dance party

 

[Oracle_Summon]

So uh...
What happens in a support thread once your character gets in?

You start overanalyzing everything about the character such as moveset speculation, multiple colors, gameplay kit and tier placement.

 

[Samcrumpit]

It's most likely closed and archived.

General discussion about Ashley would then roll over into her new Social thread.

I wonder how busy that thread will be compared to this one. I was hoping we got flairs for being a pre reveal supporter.

 

[Karafuru]

You're missing BluePikmin. Which is a shame cause their recruitment was very emotional.

I don't recall seeing him say that he was supporting, but that he was just asking some questions. I'll go ahead and add him though! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Samcrumpit]

It was page 24 post 944. And I like that recruitment because you got to see their transition from an observer to somone willing to give their support. Also I think it was cool that we all accepted his criticism of Ashley when before that we were less willing to hear from people that try to downplay Ashley. You can see that recently, we've been more honest with her shortcomings. I consider it a milestone for this thread.

 

[Karafuru]

It was page 24 post 944. And I like that recruitment because you got to see their transition from an observer to somone willing to give their support. Also I think it was cool that we all accepted his criticism of Ashley when before that we were less willing to hear it. I consider it a milestone in this thread.

Ah! Thank you for the exact post too! He has been added to the list.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

So uh...
What happens in a support thread once your character gets in?

We tend to put that current thread in the actual forum dedicated to the character. Then we temporarily use it as the main social thread until an actual Mod is selected for that forum and a new main social topic is made. Or sometimes we still use that social topic. It is context dependent.

 

[Oracle_Summon]

So....do you guys think anything will come from Sakurai's interview video?
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6JPxCP18_U

Looks like Ashley is waiting for info as well:

Spoiler

 

[NintenZ]

Comic Con is next week guys, make sure to stand your guards for any unexpected twists and turns.

 

[Mrs.Milky]

Another shmup with Ashley? She's gonna guest star in a Touhou game at this rate.

funny you mention a touhou game because there was a fake leak with reimu on it lolol. Patchy best girl btw

 

[meleebrawler]

funny you mention a touhou game because there was a fake leak with reimu on it lolol. Patchy best girl btw

Real talk though, it's the second mini-game in a row featuring her fighting in some way. If this Gold game turns out to be a survival type affair, we can take it as training for Multi-Man Smash .

 

[perfectchaos83]

Was looking around for Remixes of Ashley's Song and came across this one:

I absolutely love the integration of the Pinky and the Brain theme song and Luigi's Mansion. XD

 

[Noipoi]

Was looking around for Remixes of Ashley's Song and came across this one:

I absolutely love the integration of the Pinky and the Brain theme song and Luigi's Mansion. XD

"Gee Ashley! What are we gonna do tonight?"

"The same thing we do every night, Red. Try to take over the world."

 

[Mrs.Milky]

Real talk though, it's the second mini-game in a row featuring her fighting in some way. If this Gold game turns out to be a survival type affair, we can take it as training for Multi-Man Smash .

lol they could be building up to her being in smash or preparing her move set

 

[lightdasher]

The Ashley interaction I want to see is Fox.

Let your imagination run wild.

 

[Demonfunds]

I have a idea for a Ashley reveal trailer and it would serve as a call back to her first appearance, so I'd imagine this reveal would be in a Nintendo direct and right after they get done talking about Luigi's mansion for the 3ds, we get shown a cut scene of Luigi going through Ashley's mansion mistaking it for a haunted one, and we can see him come across the steam and see the features of something behind it, Luigi would mistake it for a ghost, and he would use the Poltergust 3000 to take away the Steam

Spoiler

Then it zooms in close

Spoiler

Then the smoke will get sucked in revealing Ashley looking down at her brew

Spoiler

Then as soon as she looks up it does that classic thingy with the boom and bold text that shows up and says something cheesy along the lines of "Ashley and Red stir up the competition"

Spoiler

Then some game play footage cuts to her beating up luigi in his mansion, then some other clips of her through various stages fighting and showing off her moves and play style, and through this sequence we get a official conformation that the popular stage gamer returns.
Oh and after this reveal would make a perfect segway to talk about warioware gold and show off 2 Ashley amibos one for gold and one for smash.
It's kind of a basic reveal trailer, but I feel like Luigi in her trailer seems like a must.
So what do you guy's think?

 

[Obake]

I have a idea for a Ashley reveal trailer and it would serve as a call back to her first appearance, so I'd imagine this reveal would be in a Nintendo direct and right after they get done talking about Luigi's mansion for the 3ds, we get shown a cut scene of Luigi going through Ashley's mansion mistaking it for a haunted one, and we can see him come across the steam and see the features of something behind it, Luigi would mistake it for a ghost, and he would use the Poltergust 3000 to take away the Steam

Spoiler

Then it zooms in close

Spoiler

Then the smoke will get sucked in revealing Ashley looking down at her brew

Spoiler

Then as soon as she looks up it does that classic thingy with the boom and bold text that shows up and says something cheesy along the lines of "Ashley and Red stir up the competition"

Spoiler

Then some game play footage cuts to her beating up luigi in his mansion, then some other clips of her through various stages fighting and showing off her moves and play style, and through this sequence we get a official conformation that the popular stage gamer returns.
Oh and after this reveal would make a perfect segway to talk about warioware gold and show off 2 Ashley amibos one for gold and one for smash.
It's kind of a basic reveal trailer, but I feel like Luigi in her trailer seems like a must.
So what do you guy's think?

The homies Luigi and Ashley in one reveal trailer? Aww yee! Pretty creative too!

 

[GaroMaster]

Hey, guys. Just stopping by to say that I am on board with Ashley joining Smash.
I was one of those people who first experienced WarioWare on the GameCube. Since then, I have been a massive fan of the series, as I have played Touched, Smooth Moves, and D.I.Y. and am anticipating Gold's imminent release. It was and still is one of the most unique series Nintendo has on offer, and that is undoubtedly helped by its zany cast.
Even though I have more nostalgia for characters such as Mona, 9-Volt, and Orbulon, Ashley is still a very good choice and without a doubt the one that would please the most people.
For the longest time, though, Ashley had always been an enigma to me. Even though I was really into WarioWare, I was not really aware of how much people wanted Ashley until just recently. Maybe it's because Ashley has an equal footing with every other character for importance bar Wario, but I was surprised by the amount of demand that she supposedly has online.
Reading through this thread, though, has really helped me understand why Ashley stands out among Warioware's diverse cast. What really stood out to me is the fact that Nintendo has been continually promoting her despite WarioWare being on a five year (eight years if you don't count G&W) hiatus. It's something I didn't really pick up on until it was pointed out.
In my opinion, Ashley would be one of the coolest newcomers to add to Ultimate. Looking back on all this, Ashley feels like a character that is being slept on in the Smash speculation scene and that missing AT may (hopefully!) be a sign of things to come.
Honestly, I just want to see you guys get what you want. It's rare for a community to have such a positive attitude in the midst of an intense speculation season, yet you guys are a rare breed. Even with the fear of Ashley being an AT again, it doesn't stop you guys one bit.
Ashley's inclusion would not only please you guys, but it could herald the return of WarioWare, and we all could use some more WarioWare. Count me as a supporter!

 

[Samcrumpit]

So uh...
What happens in a support thread once your character gets in?

We cease to exist; for we have fulfilled our purpose. Totally worth.

I have a idea for a Ashley reveal trailer and it would serve as a call back to her first appearance, so I'd imagine this reveal would be in a Nintendo direct and right after they get done talking about Luigi's mansion for the 3ds, we get shown a cut scene of Luigi going through Ashley's mansion mistaking it for a haunted one, and we can see him come across the steam and see the features of something behind it, Luigi would mistake it for a ghost, and he would use the Poltergust 3000 to take away the Steam

Spoiler

Then it zooms in close

Spoiler

Then the smoke will get sucked in revealing Ashley looking down at her brew

Spoiler

Then as soon as she looks up it does that classic thingy with the boom and bold text that shows up and says something cheesy along the lines of "Ashley and Red stir up the competition"

Spoiler

Then some game play footage cuts to her beating up luigi in his mansion, then some other clips of her through various stages fighting and showing off her moves and play style, and through this sequence we get a official conformation that the popular stage gamer returns.
Oh and after this reveal would make a perfect segway to talk about warioware gold and show off 2 Ashley amibos one for gold and one for smash.
It's kind of a basic reveal trailer, but I feel like Luigi in her trailer seems like a must.
So what do you guy's think?

The idea is so fitting, I can't imagine doing it any other way. Also, it would be "sweeps the competition" in reference to her broom.

 

[Thatkidwiththeafro]

https://topics.nintendo.co.jp/c/article/448ef2bc-8319-11e8-b123-063b7ac45a6d.html

Hmm....

 

[ActualGarbage]

https://topics.nintendo.co.jp/c/article/448ef2bc-8319-11e8-b123-063b7ac45a6d.html

Hmm....

Look at that BEAUTIFUL boy. Oh that Wolf Amiibo makes me giddy.

 

[Jazzy Jinx]

Me no speaka the Japanese.

 

[OdnetninAges]

https://topics.nintendo.co.jp/c/article/448ef2bc-8319-11e8-b123-063b7ac45a6d.html

Hmm....

It is talking about how the game and those three amiibo will be available for pre-order starting on the 13th in Japan. There are also double-sided folding leaflets in various stores.

 

[Thatkidwiththeafro]

It is talking about how the game and those three amiibo will be available for pre-order starting on the 13th in Japan. There are also double-sided folding leaflets in various stores.

Google automatically translated it for me, and I meant to write that, but you beat me to it! XD

 

[Noipoi]

Hey, guys. Just stopping by to say that I am on board with Ashley joining Smash.
I was one of those people who first experienced WarioWare on the GameCube. Since then, I have been a massive fan of the series, as I have played Touched, Smooth Moves, and D.I.Y. and am anticipating Gold's imminent release. It was and still is one of the most unique series Nintendo has on offer, and that is undoubtedly helped by its zany cast.
Even though I have more nostalgia for characters such as Mona, 9-Volt, and Orbulon, Ashley is still a very good choice and without a doubt the one that would please the most people.
For the longest time, though, Ashley had always been an enigma to me. Even though I was really into WarioWare, I was not really aware of how much people wanted Ashley until just recently. Maybe it's because Ashley has an equal footing with every other character for importance bar Wario, but I was surprised by the amount of demand that she supposedly has online.
Reading through this thread, though, has really helped me understand why Ashley stands out among Warioware's diverse cast. What really stood out to me is the fact that Nintendo has been continually promoting her despite WarioWare being on a five year (eight years if you don't count G&W) hiatus. It's something I didn't really pick up on until it was pointed out.
In my opinion, Ashley would be one of the coolest newcomers to add to Ultimate. Looking back on all this, Ashley feels like a character that is being slept on in the Smash speculation scene and that missing AT may (hopefully!) be a sign of things to come.
Honestly, I just want to see you guys get what you want. It's rare for a community to have such a positive attitude in the midst of an intense speculation season, yet you guys are a rare breed. Even with the fear of Ashley being an AT again, it doesn't stop you guys one bit.
Ashley's inclusion would not only please you guys, but it could herald the return of WarioWare, and we all could use some more WarioWare. Count me as a supporter!

Supports Ashley AND Rayman.

Ah, I see you are a man of taste as well.

 

[Ed-boy]

Supports Ashley AND Rayman.

Ah, I see you are a man of taste as well.

Mmyes, quite tasteful indeed. *sips antique tea cup*

 

[RandomAce]

I believe at least half a dozen newcomers with maybe a couple of Echos sprinkled here and there then another half a dozen more or so for DLC. I'm sure Ashley will be in the base game. Anyone saying less is being overly pessimistic.

I’ve been lurking around some support thread recently and this one caught me off guard.

I heavily disagree with this. Sure I’m not an Ashley supporter, but to be frank, I’m willing to look at this logically and Ashley is no where near a guarantee. Ashley would have to compete with characters from the ballot like King K. Rool and Geno who have been acknowledged by Sakurai and were a considered big heavy hitters in Japan during the ballot (ie King K. Rool was an entirely new constume with new textures, and Sakurai admitted to actually wanting Geno) and many others who recieved much more vocal support than Ashley did back in 2015, which could lead to less amount of votes for Ashley in the ballot and behind set popular characters. Not to mention characters from recent games that would also be considered like Rhythm Heaven, Xenoblade, and Pokémon.

It wasn’t until after 2015 that Nintendo decided to promote Ashley heavily, but by the time they did Sakurai would’ve already selected the roster. Really, there just seem to be a lot of characters that Sakurai would’ve chosen over Ashley either due to A) Some first and especially third party characters that were more popular than Ashley and thus were prioritized over her, and B) There were some characters from recent games that had a moveset that he enovisioned already that he found unique enough to add in the game that he prioritized over her.

And although I hate to bring this up, there is still the chance that Sakurai decided to use her as an assist trophy once again. Although not having her assist shown is indeed a good thing, there is still the possibility that she might come back as one.

In my opinion, Inkling was still the only newcomer who was a matter of when than what. Ashley still has some obstacles to go through.

*Also this thread is so peaceful, it feels very different than some of the others. I like it here despite how my post sounds. Lol.

 

[perfectchaos83]

It wasn’t until after 2015 that Nintendo decided to promote Ashley heavily, but by the time they did Sakurai would’ve already selected the roster. Really, there just seem to be a lot of characters that Sakurai would’ve chosen over Ashley either due to A) Some first and especially third party characters that were more popular than Ashley and thus were prioritized over her, and B) There were some characters from recent games that had a moveset that he enovisioned already that he found unique enough to add in the game that he prioritized over her.

Marketing is a two way street. The best example of this is Greninja. The Pokemon Company pushed him hard due to being selected around the Summer of 2012 to be in Smash. Regardless, Most of Ashley's promotions after the ballot were small time. They didn't need long term dev time like a game would have needed so a quick turn of a few badges here and there doesn't take much planning or development. Also, it's more correct to say that Ashley's promotions began in 2015, Mario Maker being the biggest example of that, rather than after.

The Badge Arcade is the back bone of Ashley's promotion these past few years, and it's a spotlight shared with Nikki and Isabelle, however, unlike Nikki and Isabelle, Ashley's appearance in the Badge Arcade is given a story. One that essentially involved her getting used to and accustomed to cross-overs and looking at it as a beneficial way to make friends. It's also interesting to note that parts of the Warioware staff were working on the Badge Arcade and those would be the same people that would know if she were in Smash giving that story a bit of a foreshadowing towards her future. It's not a definite to her being included into Smash as a playable character. It's just one of many puzzle pieces the Ashley fanbase has observed.

This is not to say you don't bring up good points, you do, but there is a lot more to it than you or I really realize. One thing that People in the west fail to realize is that Ashley does have popularity in Japan, and it's sizable popularity at that. Some people say she's the Ridley of the east, but It's probably far more Accurate to compare her to Little Mac. His inclusion was overall met with a lackluster reception in Japan. It's clear Little Mac was an effort to appease the West and Ashley is the same way, but in reverse. It might be an inclusion that might confuse a majority of people in the west, but to Japan it would be an obvious inclusion like Little Mac was seen for us.

 

[Luminario]

It wasn’t until after 2015 that Nintendo decided to promote Ashley heavily, but by the time they did Sakurai would’ve already selected the roster.

Couldn't that be in Ashley's favour? If a likeable character is going to be in a very popular fighting game they could spend the time before the release to advertise the hell out of her like they've already done. When Greninja was added into Smash TPC wasted no time in pushing that frog to be THE Gen 6 Pokemon. It's a tin-foil hat situation but it adds up, we've seen them single out Ashley from the rest of the cast for a while now.

 

[RandomAce]

Couldn't that be in Ashley's favour? If a likeable character is going to be in a very popular fighting game they could spend the time before the release to advertise the hell out of her like they've already done. When Greninja was added into Smash TPC wasted no time in pushing that frog to be THE Gen 6 Pokemon. It's a tin-foil hat situation but it adds up, we've seen them single out Ashley from the rest of the cast for a while now.

It’s a double wielded sword, really.

On one hand it could mean that Ashley was chosen and they decided to promote her since she is popular in Japan. On the other hand, she wasn’t strong during the ballot or wasn’t as established from the cast back when the roster was decided by late 2015 early 2016, which means she missed the boat.

Really, the main reason why I don’t think Ashley might make it in is because I think there are characters that keep pushing Ashley down the list of potential newcomers.

Marketing is a two way street. The best example of this is Greninja. The Pokemon Company pushed him hard due to being selected around the Summer of 2012 to be in Smash. Regardless, Most of Ashley's promotions after the ballot were small time. They didn't need long term dev time like a game would have needed so a quick turn of a few badges here and there doesn't take much planning or development. Also, it's more correct to say that Ashley's promotions began in 2015, Mario Maker being the biggest example of that, rather than after.

The Badge Arcade is the back bone of Ashley's promotion these past few years, and it's a spotlight shared with Nikki and Isabelle, however, unlike Nikki and Isabelle, Ashley's appearance in the Badge Arcade is given a story. One that essentially involved her getting used to and accustomed to cross-overs and looking at it as a beneficial way to make friends. It's also interesting to note that parts of the Warioware staff were working on the Badge Arcade and those would be the same people that would know if she were in Smash giving that story a bit of a foreshadowing towards her future. It's not a definite to her being included into Smash as a playable character. It's just one of many puzzle pieces the Ashley fanbase has observed.

This is not to say you don't bring up good points, you do, but there is a lot more to it than you or I really realize. One thing that People in the west fail to realize is that Ashley does have popularity in Japan, and it's sizable popularity at that. Some people say she's the Ridley of the east, but It's probably far more Accurate to compare her to Little Mac. His inclusion was overall met with a lackluster reception in Japan. It's clear Little Mac was an effort to appease the West and Ashley is the same way, but in reverse. It might be an inclusion that might confuse a majority of people in the west, but to Japan it would be an obvious inclusion like Little Mac was seen for us.

I forgot about Mario Maker. Albeit, I didn’t include it because it also had costumes for characters like Diskun and Ayumi (thankfully). So I wasn’t sure about adding it.

Also, how popular is Ashley exactly in Japan? I see people keep saying that she’s CRAZY popular in Japan, but all I really saw for this is the Arcade Bunny which, is sorta niche on it’s own.

In any case, I just saw that some supporters of Ashley call her a shoo in, so I wanted to show an “outsider’s” perspective on Ashley, and also warn that it’s probably not best to keep your hopes that high since if she was disconfirmed that is really going to hurt.

 

[DonkaFjord]

It’s a double wielded sword, really.

On one hand it could mean that Ashley was chosen and they decided to promote her since she is popular in Japan. On the other hand, she wasn’t strong during the ballot or wasn’t as established from the cast back when the roster was decided by late 2015 early 2016, which means she missed the boat.

Really, the main reason why I don’t think Ashley might make it in is because I think there are characters that keep pushing Ashley down the list of potential newcomers.


I forgot about Mario Maker. Albeit, I didn’t include it because it also had costumes for characters like Diskun and Ayumi (thankfully). So I wasn’t sure about adding it.

Also, how popular is Ashley exactly in Japan? I see people keep saying that she’s CRAZY popular in Japan, but all I really saw for this is the Arcade Bunny which, is sorta niche on it’s own.

In any case, I just saw that some supporters of Ashley call her a shoo in, so I wanted to show an “outsider’s” perspective on Ashley, and also warn that it’s probably not best to keep your hopes that high since if she was disconfirmed that is really going to hurt.

I believe she was popular in Japan prior ro Brawl... I know there was some discussion during Smash 4's speculation bringing up her popularity in Japan (which was pre-badge arcade.)

We'd really have to ask someone over there or some reliable translations of 2chan or some forums or polls from over there. I think Source gaming has done a few for characters in general.

 

[Oracle_Summon]

Really, the main reason why I don’t think Ashley might make it in is because I think there are characters that keep pushing Ashley down the list of potential newcomers.

Characters are judged by their own merits whether or not they can make it into Smash.

Also, how popular is Ashley exactly in Japan? I see people keep saying that she’s CRAZY popular in Japan, but all I really saw for this is the Arcade Bunny which, is sorta niche on it’s own.

Considering she is popular enough to be marketed towards audiences. Having badges in a pay to play game accounts for something. Multiple 3ds themes (a 3ds function that requires a payment to acquire of certain characters and other things).

My point: Ashley would not have been marketed unless Nintendo knew her popularity would be profitable.

In any case, I just saw that some supporters of Ashley call her a shoo in, so I wanted to show an “outsider’s” perspective on Ashley, and also warn that it’s probably not best to keep your hopes that high since if she was disconfirmed that is really going to hurt.

I am of the notion that you go big or go home, but caution is advised.

 

[anto_oberlin]

I support Ashley

 

[EricTheGamerman]

Well Ashley was notable enough to get a Mii costume in Smash 4 and a place in Super Mario Maker which happened about the time of Smash Ultimate’s initial plan. And i find it a lot more likely that an established character with rising popularity at the time could have their chances re-evaluated as concerned for a roster. I’d imagine there was some amount of time where the roster was slightly more in flux with regards to newcomers. As Sakurai considered who to add and how they would work, he’s not beholden to initial picks.

In comparison characters who didn’t even exist til later in 2016 (Rex and Pyrha) or were being thought up for a new IP (ARMS rep) were much less likely to get consideration I think. And I seriously doubt that Nintendo forces anything on Sakurai at this point.

I’d see Ashley as one of the few characters that could have actually benefitted from the decision making behind there scenes at the time. It certainly helps she’s a long established character. That doesn’t guarantee her a spot, but she does have a decent chance which is the most I’ll say of really any character at the end of the day.

 

[Samcrumpit]

I’ve been lurking around some support thread recently and this one caught me off guard.

I heavily disagree with this. Sure I’m not an Ashley supporter, but to be frank, I’m willing to look at this logically and Ashley is no where near a guarantee. Ashley would have to compete with characters from the ballot like King K. Rool and Geno who have been acknowledged by Sakurai and were a considered big heavy hitters in Japan during the ballot (ie King K. Rool was an entirely new constume with new textures, and Sakurai admitted to actually wanting Geno) and many others who recieved much more vocal support than Ashley did back in 2015, which could lead to less amount of votes for Ashley in the ballot and behind set popular characters. Not to mention characters from recent games that would also be considered like Rhythm Heaven, Xenoblade, and Pokémon.

It wasn’t until after 2015 that Nintendo decided to promote Ashley heavily, but by the time they did Sakurai would’ve already selected the roster. Really, there just seem to be a lot of characters that Sakurai would’ve chosen over Ashley either due to A) Some first and especially third party characters that were more popular than Ashley and thus were prioritized over her, and B) There were some characters from recent games that had a moveset that he enovisioned already that he found unique enough to add in the game that he prioritized over her.

And although I hate to bring this up, there is still the chance that Sakurai decided to use her as an assist trophy once again. Although not having her assist shown is indeed a good thing, there is still the possibility that she might come back as one.

In my opinion, Inkling was still the only newcomer who was a matter of when than what. Ashley still has some obstacles to go through.

*Also this thread is so peaceful, it feels very different than some of the others. I like it here despite how my post sounds. Lol.

I agree with what you say about that post. No one is pessimistic just for thinking a character won't make it in. If I gave it a like that's probably because I read it as them saying people are being pessimistic about the overall roster size.

As for how we presume she's popular, besides the badges there's the mii costume, she had three 3ds themes, a japanese nintendo reward, she's had several appearances in games outside of Warioware and Smash, one Source Gaming poll estimates her placing on the Japanese Smash Ballot to be 13th despite being an assist, then there's what we see on Japanese social media like her being a popular choice for Ultimate Rosters and the proliferation of fanart of her.

While there's competition, I must ask, what do you think the Roster will look like if there's room for, lets say, 9 more characters?

 

[Dr. Jojo Phantasma]

Honestly even with everything Ashley had going for her, she is still a stretch, and that holds true for every of the so-called likely newcomers. Even K.Rool is not without his issues that could prevent him from being playable. Supporting characters for Smash is now mostly a matter of faith, and we have a lot of faith in our little witch.

 

[SHOTSTUNDAVE]

She's my fav Warioware character besides Jimmy, count me in. More magic characters is always good.

 

[Slyshock]

Ashley's Japanese popularity is one of the most crucial elements of her potential inclusion, so I thought it'd be a good idea to take a look at Japanese art site Pixiv in an attempt to paint a clearer picture of her presence. This community doesn't necessarily have significant overlap with the Japanese Smash community, but I don't think it'd be unreasonable to assume that a lot of fan content equates to a lot of fans who'd want to see more Ashley.

There are currently 2094 illustrations tagged メイドインワリオ (meidoinnwario). Of these, 1448 illustrations are also tagged アシュリー (ashley).

There are a few illustrations featuring Ashley that aren't tagged as such, so in reality that number should be just a bit higher.
If WarioWare was a big franchise and this percentage was maintained, Ashley would probably have the most Japanese fan content of any Nintendo character.

As for Ashley's popularity divorced from the WarioWare tag, what we want to do is search for アシュリー (ashley) by itself.
Unfortunately Ashley's tag is occupied by several other Ashleys as well, despite the fact that our Ashley is the one in the tag's banner. We'll need to filter out as many other Ashleys as we can to get a clearer picture. For example, the most notable other Ashley is Ashley Graham from Resident Evil. Once we filter out アシュリー・グラハム (Ashley Graham), biohazard, and バイオハザード (Resident Evil), the number of illustrations tagged アシュリー (ashley) drops from 2718 to 2193.

Filtering out several more Ashleys along the way to the point where we can browse several pages of our Ashley alone, we're left with 1960 illustrations. However, while a few other Ashleys may have made it through the cracks, it's worth noting that we accidentally filtered out a few as well. For example, there are 2 illustrations tagged as both メイドインワリオ (meidoinnwario) and バイオハザード (Resident Evil).
If we generously assume that those two groups of Ashleys cancel each other out, and add in the WarioWare Ashleys not tagged アシュリー (ashley), that should give us a number just breaking 2000.

As for what that means for Smash, it's hard to say. 2000 is more than newcomer デイジー姫 (Princess Daisy), who has 1647 illustrations, but less than assist trophy ミドナ (midna), who has 2421 illustrations.

Speaking of Smash, Ashley actually does maintain a respectable ratio. There are 17 illustrations tagged both ミドナ (midna) and スマブラ (smash bros.), 33 illustrations tagged both デイジー姫 (Princess Daisy) and スマブラ (smash bros.) published before she was announced, and 44 illustrations tagged both アシュリー (ashley) and スマブラ (smash bros.). This may be a sign that Ashley's fanbase is more keen on seeing her in Smash than the average character's fanbase, which would naturally lead to stronger campaigning.